Seen in Print

[E7]

Wow!!!! I knew it was bad but had no idea how bad. Thanks for posting that link! It actually goes back to BEFORE December. No idea why they aren't just admitting this and telling ALL of their customers up front, "We can't handle the load". At least then they have the option to try UPS or FedEx. This isn't just individuals that are being affected. A lot of small commerce e-retailers are getting walloped. Even eBay. My daughter ordered a decorative plate for her mother for Christmas from eBay from a seller that is literally 4 towns over (~25 miles away). It was sent to Chicago!!!!! It has now disappeared from the system (In Transit!).

Chuck, you need to wake up and smell the coffee. There's a pandemic going on, and mail moves at a snails pace around the Holidays during normal times! It's a dead on certainty that MORE people than EVER are mail ordering stuff because of this mess so things are even worse this year!

Do you think it might just be a possibility that some postal service employees working in those big distribution centers may have contracted the virus? Maybe bunches of them?

In case you can't figure it out, the other carriers are also having problems. I ordered some stuff from Duluth Trading. I live in PA and UPS shipped it- to CA.....but I didn't get on here and piss and moan about what a bunch of incompetent idiots they are, because I have a pretty fair idea what they are dealing with!

[healey36]

I know nothing, but I suspect there's more to the USPS' woes than just the pandemic and high volume...likely the effects of poor, possibly disruptive, decision-making by incompetent top-level management, combined with labor actions, i.e. "go slow" directives from the bosses. I have stuff I shipped by USPS Dec. 2 that 's still "in transit to next location". A small packet mailed from my Westminster address to another Westminster address took nine days, passing through Spokane, Washington enroute. Meanwhile, I shipped my kid's Christmas box to Albany, NY, by UPS - it was delivered in three days.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I know nothing, but I suspect there's more to the USPS' woes than just the pandemic and high volume...likely the effects of poor, possibly disruptive, decision-making by incompetent top-level management, combined with labor actions, i.e. "go slow" directives from the bosses. I have stuff I shipped by USPS Dec. 2 that 's still "in transit to next location". A small packet mailed from my Westminster address to another Westminster address took nine days, passing through Spokane, Washington enroute. Meanwhile, I shipped my kid's Christmas box to Albany, NY, by UPS - it was delivered in three days.

Probably all of the above in a year unlike any other one. Might want to all remember all of the unique aspects of this year and that the shipping companies have been working through it all despite just about everything else being compromised. That they finally hit the wall should not be of any surprise to anyone that takes into the considerable complications dumped on top of the "normal" chaos of Dec.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Merry Christmas!

[healey36]

I agree. They warned us of the upcoming vapor-lock two or three months ago. I distinctly recall a note from Amazon warning that post-Dec. 1 orders might not make it by Christmas. I blew it off as a Bezos ploy to drive sales, but maybe he called it.

Nordic Santa...you'll get your gifts and you'll like 'em!

[robert.]

I bought stuff from SC. It made it to Maryland in half a day. Then to Philadelphia. Those 2 legs of the trip. A day and a half. Last time it was scanned Dec. 14. In philly’s 30th street location..
I broke my cardinal rule of not selling things between thanksgiving and Christmas. When i sell eBay items during that time frame it is a hassle. 5 years ago I stopped. This year I needed a few bucks . 100 percent of my sales are stuck in philly’s distribution center. Nothing has moved in almost 2 weeks. My buyers are ready to cancel. eBay shows buyers a little icon when they pay.estimated delivery date. My buyers think they should’ve received their stuff. 2 weeks ago. My next problem will be arriving condition. You can bet the stuff shows up looking like a monkey riding an elephant delivered it!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I broke my cardinal rule of not selling things between thanksgiving and Christmas. When i sell eBay items during that time frame it is a hassle.

I pulled all my listings when it became evident that the USPS was frelled. But, maybe the logjam has broken a bit - all my items that were lost in Baltimore are now out for delivery today!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[rogruth]

First time I've seen Santa in a row boat.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

First time I've seen Santa in a row boat.

Probably was out delivering presents to occupants of the lost city of R'lyeh.

[chuck]

First class mail is not affected. Letters/business mail is going through, maybe a day or so late. Priority mail flat rate envelopes are going through. PACKAGES, even Priority Mail packages are not.

The USPS did not ramp up hiring like it has done in past years for the holidays. Management knew it was going to be bad early on yet did even less than previous years to deal with the situation. Yes COVID is playing a part but it doesn't explain grotesque levels of stupidity in terms of sending stuff off to random places, especially local mail that only needs to go 20-50 miles. A large part of that is the removal/sabotage of sorting equipment during late summer. All of this is because the Post Master General is a flaming *hole.

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/12/21/frank-defilippo-dejoy-to-the-world-your-mail-wont-come/

It also doesn't explain the counter workers at the local post offices being less than honest with customers. I mailed the package on Dec 3rd. The counter clerk said it was SUPPOSED to get there by the 6th but might be a "little late". When I found the tracking wasn't showing any movement from the 4th on I asked about the status and was told that I should have used "Express" mail which is actually way more expensive than FedEx Home Delivery and even FedEx Express Saver (which is close to Priority mail price) but both get their in less time.

If they had said this when I was mailing stuff on the 3rd I would have switched carriers.
They already knew that USPS shipping was a crap shoot and were less than honest about the situation.

Package number one finally made it to Glendale. Package Number two made it from North Carolina to Santa Clarita and will make it to Glendale today but probably won't be delivered until Saturday. It's the dog's stuff so he can get excited a day late. Package number four is probably a flat rate envelope and should arrive on Monday. Package number 3 was the one that just needed to go 30 miles and is now somewhere between Chicago and Detroit, theoretically.

DaJoy needs to go, period.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Still waiting for a Priority Mail large cardboard-type 18x12"-ish envelope I hand-took to my local Post Office, on Dec.10, to make its way to McKeesport , PA from NJ , with expected delivery the following Monday .

My intended recipient , a cousin, used the Tracking Number to trace it. And I took my receipt to the counter which sent it for me, luckily getting the same lady , and she said, using its Tracking #, on Dec20, that it had made its way to Edison NJ, but had no idea why it had made its way there.

In the envelope was a word-puzzle workbook which concealed the true purpose of the mailing which was an envelope containing a $1,000 check, intended as largess for the recipient's Christmas .

So much for that fun intention!

[rogruth]

FWIW. The local mail for Pembroke, GA all goes to Jacksonville,FL, a 200+ miles round trip. This started @ 20 years ago. Mail to or from or within any
post office in southeast Georgia all goes to Jacksonville first. I was told this was being done so the number of pieces of mail could be counted and to
verify the amount of mail through a local post office. @ 15 years ago a new post office was built 8 miles from our town. That building is now used for
window service and posting of mail to PO boxes. Home delivery is now done from our PO using pretty much the same routes and carriers as before.
We don't have many complaints with USPS. Guess we are lucky.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

First class mail is not affected. Letters/business mail is going through, maybe a day or so late. Priority mail flat rate envelopes are going through. PACKAGES, even Priority Mail packages are not.

No. My 1st class mail has been in Baltimore for 13 days; my replacement debit card has yet to arrive after 12 days; we're getting Christmas cards from the 1st week of December.

I have a Priority Mail package that the tracking indicates will be delivered today.......4 days in transit.

OTOH, a package I sent the 1st week of Dec appears by the tracking to be slated to be returned to me rather than delivered.....

[E7]

It's a crap shoot. Figure about 3X the usual delivery time, and a lot of that depends where it's routed through. As long as it gets to me unbroken I can live with the rest of it.

Yes Virginian, There ain't no Santa Claus!